Alasania: Appathurai is right, we are not ready for NATO full membership

Defence Minister of Georgia, Irakli Alasania said on 25 June "James Appathurai is right when he says Georgia is not ready for full membership of NATO." The Minister said that Georgia and NATO officials are talking about the next step for the country – the Membership Action Plan.

"We will need several years to become fully ready with our political system, security measures and defence capacities for NATO membership. There's nothing surprising here. We are talking about the next step for integration, however, I believe that whatever is happening in Ukraine – Russian aggression and the regional security context should prompt us that membership negotiations with Georgia should start very soon. This is our wish," Alasania said.

NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai said in an interview with Georgia's 1st Channel that none of the Georgian politicians have told him that the country is ready for NATO membership.